The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-09-16
SPEED ON THE RAIL.
An Engineer Tells Why 1t Is Some
times Safer to Travel Fast.

An Engineer Tells Why 1t Is Some
times Safer to Travel Fast.
"Of course an accident on a railroad is an
event that can occur any time, 10 matter
how great the precautions are" said an old
West Shore engineer to a New York Star
man, who found him sitting on box in the
depot yard, while ''hostler" was grooming
his iron steed," just in from days run.
Il have railroaded many years-at least
twenty-and my experience has been varied
and at times exciting. have faced death
more than once, and have averted many
possible disasters by keeping a cool brain
and firm hand upon the throttle.
Il have run directly through the jaws OF
death to save the lives of the passengers,
whereas had | endeavored to have stunned
the danger ahead many lives would have
been lost. ,-...... .,....-. ...-..,
ION general principles there is less danger
in running train swiftly than slowly The
reason is obvious. have run my train
when behind time-at as high a speed as Is
and 20 miles an hour and have passed safely
over loose rails that would have thrown my
engine and cars from the track had been
running more slowly. The momentum car
rled me over safely.
''An engineer seldom, if ever, thinks of
his personal safety at the expense of those
whose lives are intrusted to his care, but
have driven ahead at great velocity over
dangers that, had / previously known of
their existence, | would have slowed up,
and, as before said. l have speeded where
l knew there was danger, and that very
squirt Of speed has saved my train.
Engines will jump the track quicker
over light places at moderate speed than at
express tune, and we are as safe in running
around curves at high rate of speed as
xxrl.. - hon in not
safer You see, the incline of a track-or
the rails on one side of a curve being higher
than those opposite-is decidedly necessary
for fast running, and there is no danger in
the elevation. A train carries itself around
q curve with the momentum it has gained
before reaching the point. If an engineer
made squirt just before or as he reached
the curve, his engine could hardly fail 20
Jump Again, if brakes are put on hard
and the wheels thus clogged instead of al
lowing the coaches to swing readily and
easily as they reach and round the curve,
the humping of one car against the other
might send all off the track.
1.-THE secret of the rapid running around
curves lies in the fact of the rail elevation
on one side, and that the fanges on the
wheels hug the rails with death grip, thus
making the pressure so great that it is al
most impossible to leave the track uncere-
moniously.
IAN engine in good order is as tractable
as lamb, and apparently endowed with
human intelligence | can tell you of cir
cumstance that makes me believe an engine
has human intelligence, locomotively speak
ing In 1878 | was running on Western
road, and left Chicago on one of the storm
lest nights | ever saw. l had orders to
speed, as | had theatrical party on board,
and / was thirty minutes late, owing to
some connections with another and inbound
Western train. / pulled out of the
depot in good style and was soon speeding
through the snow flakes at the rate of forty
five miles an hour. continued at this rate
for about three hours when suddenly, and
without any apparent reason, my engine
jerked. l at once thought we had struck
something on the track and either had
thrown it aside or had passed over it. In
three minutes more the engine jerked again
and seemed inclined to stop. / was nom
plussed had carefully examined the ma
chinery in every part during the afternoon
and | knew everything was all right when
we started. A minute later there was another
jerk, and about a couple of minutes
after that another and very vio-
lent one. / slowed up, and after
riding very slowly a mile further the
moon came out brightly. An eighth of a
mile ahead of me was a curve, and | in
tended to again let out after passing that
point. Just as we turned the curve my
fireman yelled out: Let her up; something
ahead" at once pulled down hard, and,
what do you think we stopped about thirty
feet from where a tree had been blown
across the track. The train hands, with the
assistance of the male passengers and axes
we had on board, cut the tree so that we
could swing it across the track, and after
nearly two hours delay we started again.
Talk about speed! / made that train almost
fly through the air, and my loss of two and
half hours time in all from Chicago to
Detroit, Mich, was reduced to So minutes
Railroading is not the easiest life in the
world, especially for engineers.